


starchild

by asaiamah



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Tags will be updated, oh boy u just wait till I pull out that angst card
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10031438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asaiamah/pseuds/asaiamah
Summary: There were two defining moments in Hajime’s childhood. One was witnessing the one of the Landings and meeting Tooru. The other one was when Tooru disappeared without a trace.A story about beginnings and endings and everything that comes in between.





	

April 2031

The midnight sky was splashed with white light as the blindingly bright orb descended further and further towards the ground. Hajime squinted at it curiously from the quarantine site a few miles away, as his mother pulled on his sleeve and breathlessly reminded him to stay back from the fence.

The air was filled with panicked shrieks and the loud crying of infants, but the boy Hajime was squished against didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he didn’t seem to hear any of what was going on.

His large, wide, chestnut-coloured eyes reflected the light and his smile was almost as blinding as the landing craft. Laughter bubbled from his lips, and while the sound was lost to the noise, Hajime knew of it all the same.

The boy’s name was Tooru, as Hajime would find out the next day at school. Oikawa Tooru, space commander and supreme vanquisher of aliens. But for now, Hajime simply knew him as that weirdo who lit up with delight under the lavender sky that one strange and starless night. The boy he met at the time everyone would later mark as The Landing.

 

 

***

December 2033

“Iwa-chan, do you know what my dad said yesterday?” said Tooru, tinkering with the small toy fighter plane in his hand. They were in Hajime’s room, fighting battles with the miniature airfleet in their hands. (Oikawa had always stuck to more boyish toys after he had gotten yelled at for playing with his older sister’s dolls.)

“What?” said Hajime, scrunching up his eyebrows at the nickname, but still grudgingly listening. Stories from Oikawa’s dad were always interesting if not slightly gruesome, because he was part of the special forces that dealt with the aliens.

“The aliens were peaceful at first, but somehow we humans fucked up and turned it into a full-fledged war,” recited Oikawa in a whisper, staring at Hajime, seemingly waiting for a reaction.

Hajime shushed him quickly. “What if my mom heard you use that word? You wouldn’t be allowed to come over any more.”

Oikawa giggled and turned around to rummage for more plastic soldiers. “What do you mean? My dad uses it all the time! Especially when he comes home all angry.”

Hajime winced. He knew that there was something wrong with Oikawa’s dad, that he drank a lot and acted weirdly because of it. He had gathered as much from the hushed conversations that his parents had at the breakfast table when they thought he was still asleep.

Oikawa seemed to sense something in Hajime’s troubled silence, and he hurriedly declared a new game of Aliens vs. Humans. Hajime never heard about Oikawa’s father ever again.

  

***

 

There were two defining moments in Hajime’s childhood. One was witnessing the one of the Landings and meeting Tooru. The other one was when Tooru disappeared without a trace.

It was on one bitterly cold day when Hajime trudged to school early to make snowmen in the yard. He didn't bother to wait for Tooru and started building right away with the snow that blanketed the area, perfectly smooth until he had touched it. He began to gather and pack the snow rhythmically into a big ball, then another. All the while, he was looking up and expecting to see Tooru every time he heard footsteps leading up to him on the sidewalk.  
  
But Tooru never came.  
  
When it happened again the next day, and the day after that, he told himself that Tooru was sick and just too chicken to tell his friend about it. He probably looked so pathetic, sniffling with his nose all red. He resolved that he had to see him.  
  
On his way home from school, Hajime turned left where he would normally have turned right, and walked a while further until he was in front of Tooru's house. _C'mon, don't be a chicken,_ he thought to himself, trying to work up the courage to knock. The worst case scenario was that Oikawa's dad would open the door, and even then, it was too early in the day for him to be drunk yet.  
  
He knocked on the door once, twice: no answer. He paused, looking around, and then knocked really, really hard.  _Oops_ , he thought, as he heard loud footsteps coming towards the door. He coughed once and stood up straight, ready to ask for Tooru.  
  
The door opened, and an unfamiliar face popped out.   
  
"Can I help you?" the old lady demanded gruffly.  
  
Iwaizumi took a step back and almost tumbled off the patio. After a few seconds, he regained his balance and peered behind the woman. Boxes, boxes everywhere. He looked up in shock at the lady, who was now shivering slightly with the cold and wrapping her shawl around her crouched torso.   
  
_He moved. He moved without telling me..._ Iwaizumi felt anger welling up. He quickly bowed to the perplexed old lady and ran off.  _I can't believe it! What if I never see him again?_

 

***

April 2049

_Hajime slowly but surely looked up into his eyes, which were full of barely-concealed panic and grief._

_“I’m sorry,” said Tooru, who was breathing shallowly and shaking as he kneeled beside him. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know it would turn out this way.”_

_Hajime sighed and looked back down at his hands, his vision blurring slightly._

_“Don't be an idiot,” he said. “Of course you didn’t.”_

 

***

November 2040

Iwaizumi had enlisted, of course, not because he was an alien freak, but because it had always seemed like something he would do. Besides, both Sawamura and Sugawara had signed up too, and it's not like he had had any other ideas for what to do after high school. He reasoned that his athleticism could at least be put to some use as a soldier of the Republic.  
  
In order to fight the aliens, humans had engineered a system with two pilots per craft. It was reasoned that one pilot alone could not handle all the intricacies of flying alone, and three would be too much to ensure uninterrupted communication. Two was the perfect number, and one of them could be a mercenary and the other a navigator. They would be paired at the start of their time at the military academy, they would train together, and by the end of it they would be inseparable and infallible. At least, that was the idea.   
  
Unfortunately for Iwaizumi, he did not have any idea who his partner would be, unlike a certain couple of lovebirds who were constantly praised for their compatibility in test simulations.

The week that led up to the matching ceremony was grueling; full of personality tests, interviews, simulations, and physical examinations. Iwaizumi failed to understand how your lifelong partner in battle could be chosen using the questions they asked. (Although he had to admit that what really made the week so wearying was the nervousness roiling in his stomach that he tried so hard to ignore.)  
  
As the day of the matching approached, he spent more and more time in the simulator doing practice runs, trying to improve his score. However, the night before the ceremony, his roommates Hanamaki and Matsukawa jointly pulled him out and dragged him back to their room. He huffed and laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, as Hanamaki turned the lights off.   
  
"Go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning," offered Matsukawa gently. Iwaizumi grunted in agreement and turned over. 

 

***

 

The ceremony wasn't very ceremonial, but it was just called that because the military liked to fancy things up a lot, Iwaizumi presumed. They would simply declare the mercenary's name and then the navigator's name in succession, and have them meet on stage and sign a contract. Nevertheless, they had required everyone to show up in full formal uniform, and Iwaizumi was already itching to loosen his tight collar.  
  
Iwaizumi looked on indulgently as Sawamura was paired with Sugawara. They blushed slightly, signed the contract, and stepped offstage, whispering to each other. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. It was a partnership contract, not a marriage contract.   
  
After a few rounds more, Iwaizumi heard his name and perked up.  
  
"Iwaizumi Hajime, mercenary," the voice proclaimed. Iwaizumi made his way onto the stage and waited, heart pounding. He looked over the crowd, and caught sight of the newly-paired Hanamaki and Matsukawa giving him the thumbs up. He smiled tensely back, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the next announcement.  
  
"Oikawa Tooru, navigator."  
  
Iwaizumi's eyes flew open in shock. He turned towards the man he had least expected to see at this moment, and was faced with familiar warm chestnut-brown eyes and an absolutely unmistakable smirk.   
  
"Ya-hoo, Iwa-chan!" said Tooru.  
  
Iwaizumi punched him in the face.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! thanks so much for reading. this is the first thing I've written in many years so feel free to leave me comments on my writing and how to improve!


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